BAY CITY, MI — An ongoing clerical error by the Bay City accounts receivable office that lasted
nearly a year and a half has resulted in an East Side business receiving an
unexpected — and rather high — water bill that city officials say needs to be
paid.

Columbus Laundromat, 1000 Columbus Ave., received a bill
adjustment last week for $18,229. City officials caught the error the week of
April 7, said Kim Haken, manager of the Laundromat.

"They said, 'We have a bill here for you, and I'm going to
warn you, it's rather large,'" Haken said. "They went on to tell me there was a
discrepancy and that I owed $18,000."

Haken and her father Richard Haken, who owns the Laundromat,
met with Bay City Manager Rick Finn and Fiscal Services Director George Martini
last week and were told the city would discount the business' bill by 10
percent, but that it still needed to be paid.

Haken says her business can't afford to pay the adjusted
bill.

"After you calculate
our yearly income, we don't even make that much," she said.

Finn declined to comment specifically on the bill
adjustment, saying it would be inappropriate for the city to respond as a solution is still being worked out.

Bay City Manager Rick Finn

"My intent right now is not to find fault but rather to come
up with a fair solution," he said. "The city is in the process of reviewing its
records and when this review process is completed we have agreed to meet back
with the customer and have further discussions. Any additional comment by the
city would violate the confidentially that we are attempting to maintain
with our water customer."

About two years ago, Haken said the monthly water bills at the
Laundromat ranged between $1,800 and $2,800 — amounts she said were crippling
her business. City officials told her the business was due for an upgraded
water meter, said Haken, but didn't guarantee it would bring her bill down.

Mark Vanderberg, water distribution and meter supervisor,
declined to comment on Columbus Laundromat's billing situation, but said new
water meters won't necessarily bring a monthly bill down, but will add more
operational efficiencies.

"One of those things is reading costs," he said. "We won't
have employees needing to go out to read meters. We 'll be able to read meters
right from the office."

New water meters show city employees updated water usage
each hour, said Vanderberg. That can be advantageous to the customer, he said,
if their residence or business has a leak that can be detected earlier.

A residential rollout of the updated water meters is expected
to begin in the coming months, said Vanderberg.

After Columbus Laundromat's new meter was installed in November
2012, Haken thought it was the cure to her high water bills. For the next 16
months, she watched her bill drop from $1,800-$2,800 per month to bills that
ranged from $800-$1,200.

"We thought it was because of the new water meter," said
Haken. "We thought we finally had bills that made sense and wondered how much
we overpaid through the years."

According to water bills for Columbus Laundromat, obtained by The Times through a Freedom of Information Act request, the monthly payments decreased drastically beginning in December 2012.

In November 2012, before the new water meter was installed at the business, the Laundromat had a bill of $2,601. In December 2012, the first month with the new water meter, the bill dropped to $1,789. It then went on to drop to $1,128 in January 2013; $904 in February 2013; $871 in March 2013; and $911 in April 2013. Bills stayed between $880 and $1,100 until the clerical error at the city was discovered.

The business' April 2014 bill is for $2,394.

As a comparison, water bills at Totally Clean Coin Laundry, which has locations at 2608 Center Ave. and 1005 N. Henry St. in Bay City, averaged between $2,200 and $3,500. From November 2012 to April 2014, the average bill at both Totally Clean Coin Laundry locations was $2,882 per month.

On April 18, Haken said she received her monthly bill for $2,394 with an added adjusted previous balance of $15,835, for a total of $18,229. That adjustment included the 10-percent discount that the city offered, said Haken. She says the business won't be able to make the payment by its due date of Friday, April 25.

In the meantime, she has set up a petition at her Laundromat,
in hopes of gaining enough signatures to convince the city to drop the bill. To
date, the petition has garnered about 90 signatures.

Mayor Christopher Shannon said he's been in talks with Finn
about finding a solution to the bill. He says if the city can't produce enough
evidence that the business actually used $18,000 worth of water over the past
16 months, the bill adjustment should be forgiven.

"If we can't piece together evidence of accurate meter
readings, then we have to err on behalf of the customer," he said. "What's
fair is fair."

Bay City Commissioner Andrew Niedzinski

Commissioner Andrew Niedzinski, who represents Bay City's 3rd
Ward, where the business is located, says the bill is too large and fears it could shut down the
business if the owners are forced to pay.

"I think that type of business is needed in that area of
town," he said. "It's a necessity — there are a lot of people living in the
area that are in rentals and are low-income. They may not have a washer and
dryer."

It costs $2.50 in quarters to run a load of laundry through
the wash at Columbus Laundromat.

Scott Rice, who owns Totally Clean Coin Laundry locations in Bay City and two in
Midland, says his water bills in Bay City are nearly double the amount he pays for
the businesses in Midland.

"Bay City is extremely high with water and sewer," he said.

Every five to 10 years, he upgrades his equipment to more
energy efficient machines to help deal with increasing water rates. He's also
increased the price to wash clothes. Depending on the size of the washer, loads
can cost $2.50 to $7, he said.

"The new, modern machines do make a difference because
they're more regulated on how much water they use," he said.

Finn said he offered to have the Columbus Laundromat bill be paid off over 18 to
24 months at zero-percent interest, which would mean adding about $750-$1,000
to the normal bill over that time period. Depending on the amount of business
at the Laundromat, Haken said city officials told her to expect bills for about
$2,400 per month.

"That's going to be hard to do," said Haken. "We don't want
to throw in the towel and lock the doors and leave another empty building in
Bay City. But it's going to be tough."

Rice said he hopes the city can come up with a solution to
help out Haken's business.

"This could happen to any of us," he said. "Competitor or
not, the city needs to work with her on this and I hope everything works out."